A Destination Wedding Dream Come True

It was inevitable that this special couple Nils and Phumi, would get married, however after being together for a couple of years and having two beautiful daughters together, Nils was still nervous to pop the question.

Pumi explains how Nils decided to propose, and we quote “This is the most unromantic yet the coolest ways to propose. A day before my 34th birthday, we went to a really good friend of ours party, we partied a bit too much and we went home and passed out. I woke up in the morning with such a crazy hangover and Nils woke me up and started acting all serious and nervous. He didn’t even ask “will you marry me” he said “I got you this just to show my life long commitment towards you” and then I cried and we partied and celebrated with all my closest girlfriends at the Roundhouse in Cape Town. We drank all the sparkling wine they had in their cellar!!”

Pumi and Nils decided on a destination wedding, with just the four of them at Lalaland Villa, in Canguu, Bali, Indonesia. When quizzed about what she loved about their wedding day, Pumi says she really appreciated just how seamless and relaxed the entire day was. They all had a lot of great laughs together and the kids were even swimming before and after the wedding.

Pumi and Nils describe their wedding as super, mega, fun, and they intentionally did not want a wedding photographer, but opted to hire a location photographer who, in their opinion took the coolest and most fun pictures of them as a family, just being themselves.

Pumi loves the idea that she can now officially call Nils her husband and he can call her, his wife. Because they have been living together for some time and have two daughters, nothing more than the rings and her surname has changed, however she says that somehow the cuddles and hugs feel better as husband and wife.

Being an extremely private destination wedding with just the four of them, there was no need to make any special announcements to any guests; it was an extremely personal occasion which they loved. The most important items were brought with them from Cape Town, namely the gown, suit and flower girl dresses. Everything else was sourced by the locals in the Villa they got married in.

Pumi says she really did not want her wedding to look like the cliché weddings seen in magazines, and opted for a destination wedding in a super cool, art deco villa in Bali. She says she also never wanted any of the traditions, wearing a white gown, speeches, time pressure and people to entertain. They wanted very simple, something beautiful in yellow, where the kids could play and enjoy themselves and they all could enjoy the day together, and it worked perfectly for them.

Regarding the flowers, Pumi says they literally confirmed the flowers and alter flowers two days before the wedding via e-mail. They got exactly what they asked for, white with hints of yellow, to compliment the outfits, and green to compliment the rice field backdrop of the villa. Pumi says, as there were no formal tables to decorate it was unnecessary for any décor besides the villa has such creative furniture and finishes, which was more than enough “décor” for their special day.

Pumi’s super dramatic yellow gown consisted of many layers of tulle. She says “I wanted nothing more to pop, other that the dress, good skin and red lips. I had no accessories and my hair was tied back in a messy bun. I wore cerise pink heels sandals as they complemented the lemon yellow dress best. I sent my makeup artist a picture of the type of makeup I would like for the wedding, and without a makeup trial, she completely pulled it off.”

This unusual couple say they would change absolutely nothing about their wedding day; they describe it as magical, out of this world and just the most perfect day. Having planned their whole wedding in just one week, they were expecting some things to go horribly wrong; however, everything fell perfectly into place. Magically, the makeup artist was confirmed just one week prior without a trial, the flowers were confirmed just two days prior and without seeing the end product before walking down the aisle, they bought their rings from a local jeweller the night before the wedding and the most important element to capture these precious memories, the photographer and drone crew was confirmed only three days before the wedding. How fortunate that everything just fell into place as it should.

For Pumi, the greatest highlights of her day, was walking out of the villa into the garden and seeing the flower arrangements and the flower petal aisle, and her dream man waiting at the end of it all at the altar to say their “I DO’S” . The second highlight for her, was the beach photoshoot, she had never seen pitch black beach sand before, and she just knew the contrast of her yellow gown and Nils’s white suit would create spectacular pics, and she wasn’t wrong!!

Pumi says that she felt that their wedding was unique as there was nothing traditional or conventional about their wedding. She loved that they had a wedding with just the four of them and they got to celebrate their love the best way they know how, just having great fun and laughter.

Her advice to future brides is to make your wedding day about you and your partner, not about entertaining people. She also adds that it’s okay to bend the rules and not give into society pressures